Monday, March 28, 2016

I enjoy reading and writing historical fiction and
contemporary fiction that has historical roots, such as novels with paralleling
contemporary and historical storylines. Aside from the fascinating research, I
love sharing what I’ve discovered, because I believe it’s as important to learn
something from a book as it is to be entertained by it.

Besides when you came
to know the Lord, what is the happiest day in your life?

On December 27th, Jeannie and I celebrated for the 43rd time
the best day of my life—and she has done everything in her power to make every
day since our wedding another best-day-of-my-life. The days she failed to do so
were completely my fault.

How has being
published changed your life?

It’s made me a lot busier. J It has also immensely
elevated my respect for those intrepid souls who have done it so much better
than I.

What are you reading
right now?

Fiction: I just finished Sibella Giorello’s latest release
in her Raleigh
Harmon series. (You all really need to read Sibella’s work—she’s one of
those intrepid souls.)

I’m working on the “The Marble Falls Legacy – Part 2,” the
sequel to Quimby Pond which is featured in this blog interview. How fun!
There’s a sneak preview at the end of Quimby Pond for the more curious
among your readers.

What would be your
dream vacation?

A river cruise in Europe.
Okay, so while we’re dreaming, an all-expenses-paid river cruise in Europe.

Good luck with that. J How do you choose your
settings for each book?

The historical hook chooses it for me. I’m more interested
in a really interesting premise for the story than I am where it takes place. For
example, I would never have thought of Rangeley,
Maine, as a setting for a novel (Quimby
Pond) if such an intriguing historical event had not taken me there.

If you could spend an
evening with one person who is currently alive, who would it be and why?

The same person I spend every evening with—that 43-year
helpmate I mentioned earlier. But then, I don’t think that’s what you meant, so
I’ll try to be a little more innovative. I’ll also assume you don’t include
fictional characters—who are very much alive—because I’ve created some whom I’d
love to spend an evening with just to see what they’re really like. J
So, given those constraints, I suppose it would have to be Peyton Manning. He
has nothing to prove to me, so he can be genuine (i.e., no need to force any
“image”). I appreciate his work ethic and what I understand to be his
perspective on living his faith.

What are your
hobbies, besides writing and reading?

I enjoy camping, prospecting for gold, and playing the
12-string guitar. Sometimes all at the same time, which can get a little
confusing. But it’s still fun.

What is your most
difficult writing obstacle, and how do you overcome it?

Finding consistent time to write. I have a full-time job and
a home life that I must prioritize. Writing sporadically hinders growing in the
craft. I do edit manuscripts, though, so I’m able to stay in the discipline
from that perspective, although creating my own work sometimes suffers.

What advice would you
give to a beginning author?

Establish your goal as a writer up front. What do you really
want to do? Do you want a writing career, an avocation, a one-time work to
share with family and friends? If you don’t decide that up front, you’ll waste
a lot of time, money, and frustration in seeking the proper path to publication
(sorry about the alliteration, but hey, that says it all. J)
Can you change your mind at some point? Sure, that’s the stuff of life. But in
the publishing industry, making a drastic change in trajectory can be ungainly.

Tell us about the
featured book.

Ah! J I absolutely love Quimby Pond. It’s my
first contemporary mystery/suspense—but still with that true historical
hook—and so the genre is a little new to me, although I’ve written elements of
mystery in previous works. Quimby Pond takes place in northern Maine. It centers on a
young woman who has come to MarbleFalls (a fictitious representation of the lovely town
of Rangeley) to
escape her past. When she begins to restore an antique trunk for a friend, her
past resurges, thrusting her and her friends into mortal danger.

Please give us the
first page of the book.

This is the Prologue, which sets the historical backdrop for
the story. It’s actually 1-1/2 pages, so be advised that I’m going to cheat. J

Arthur Dunsley, reporter for The Lakes newspaper, tapped a stubby pencil against his chin as he
circled the abandoned steamer trunk. It seemed sad, lonely, if such a thing
could be. A bridal trunk with no bride? Just wasn’t right. He stooped and
fingered a delicately inscribed card affixed to the lid, then jotted a word or
two in his pocket notebook.

“So, what ya make of her?” Stationmaster Charlie Turner
tipped up his billed cap and scratched behind an ear.

“Dunno. Suppose it was loaded on the wrong train?”

“On the line from Phillips?” Charlie shook his head. “Came
off the one o’clock, nobody with it. Word got around town. Folks came for
tonight’s train too. Still nobody.”

Arthur tugged on the hasp. “Locked.”

“Aye-uh. Already tried that.”

The reporter closed the notebook and rose with a half-smile.
Finally, something more exciting than who-is-visiting-whom-in-the-lakes gossip
and depressing obituaries. “I’ve got an empty corner in today’s edition. This
oughta add a little mystery to the humdrum.”

“Surely.” Charlie grasped one of the trunk’s leather handles
and dragged it toward the stationhouse door.

Arthur pocketed his pencil and notebook, and strode toward
town.

***

The dim glow of a cigar ember flared beyond the empty train
platform. Among the shadows, a lone figure leaning against a knobby evergreen
hacked a hoarse cough into his sleeve. A flick of his finger, and the stogie’s
chewed stub arced onto the narrow-gauge railroad tracks, erupting sparks over
their rough-hewn wooden ties.

The man pushed away from the tree and set a stealthy course
toward the station. He drew up at the platform as the stationmaster’s bulky
silhouette appeared in a window against the yellow glow of an oil lamp. The
stranger backed against the station’s turret, one hand pressed against the
rough stone, the other reaching toward his belt. When he withdrew it, the
pitted steel blade of a hunting knife flashed in the weak lamplight.

The stationmaster moved from view.

The man palmed the knife and edged toward the door.

Nice hook. I am eager
to find out what happens next. How can readers find you on the Internet?

Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. You must follow these instructions to be in the drawing. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory. (Comments containing links may be subject to removal by blog owner.)

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34 comments:

Thanks for stopping by and commenting. We seem to share the same joys in reading/writing. :-)

Wish you the best of luck in the drawing.

Cheers! Bruce

(Secret: In my earlier novel, Katia, I managed to get 13 of my 14 grandchildren's names into the story in one form or another. Little Gwen didn't arrive in time to get in that story. So, you probably noticed the name of the heroine in QP... :-) )

Nice story hook for sure...you have me curious as to what's in the steam trunk & who it belongs to :-) You're a new-to-me author but I love discovering new writers. I also enjoy suspense/mystery and then you add history to it, definitely something worth a read! Thanks for the interview & giveaway chance.

Am reading Ben Amittai, and giving it a thumbs up. Looking forward to A Prophet's Tale, Books One and Two. Glad summer is almost here; I'll have more time to enjoy your books. The 'abandoned' steamer trunk is interesting. Agatha Christie is one of my favorite authors; seems I'll add another name to my list. Thank you!

Great to hear from you again. Thanks, this was a really fun book to write. I love the historical seed too. My last two novels were also seated in true historical settings, although the stories were (mostly) fiction. And the earlier series is set in 8th-century BC. Hard to get much more historical than that. :-)

Hope you get a chance to enjoy the story.

(Secret: I share a quirk with the hero, Brent Newcomb. It's a hang-up with a certain medical procedure, and I long ago resorted to his method of avoidance. Maybe you'll catch it in the story. ;-) )

Thanks for the comment. I hope it will live up to that impression for you. :-)

(Secret: My wife and I spent our 40th anniversary in Sydney. I did a lot of people-watching there while developing the story to lend attributes to my characters. I promise I only used them for the good guys. :-) )

I love the cover too. As soon as I came across that background, I knew I had to use it. It took a long time to find just the right face to use, though. I think she's a great representation of my heroine.

(Secret: Speaking of the cover, originally the background scene was flipped, with the cloudy moon at the left where the model's face covered part of it. But I loved the mood it sets so much that I asked the graphic artist to flip the image so the moon would be to the right. Since there's also the pond and hillside in the image, I guess you could say we moved heaven and earth to get that cover done. :-) :-) )

Yes, the research on this one was very interesting to do. I also discovered that, even with all the information available in literature and online--as well as contacts in the area I could interview--there was no substitute to visiting the area personally. I'd already finished the first draft when I made my "boots-on-the-ground" research trip, and I discovered some things that completely changed how I wrote a couple of the scenes. I would never have thought to ask about these things of my contacts. It was well worth the investment to visit Rangeley--even during mud season. :-)

(Secret: The train station where the above excerpt takes place still exists, but, since the narrow-gauge line to Rangeley was discontinued in the early 1900s, the old station house is now a B&B.)

Thanks so much. That Prologue is the only chapter of the book that actually takes place in the historical setting. The rest of the book is set in present day. However, that might not be true of "The Marble Falls Legacy - Book 2"... :-)

(Secret: The town Marble Falls is based upon is Rangeley, named after Squire Rangeley who figures prominently in the early history of the region. I chose "Marble Falls" for my story as there was a John Marble who also figured strongly in 19th-century Rangeley [the actual name of the train station was the Marble Train Station] and "Falls" comes from nearby Angel Falls.)

Bruce I'm loving all the secrets you are sharing about your book & how you've incorporated some of your own life experiences in it! Makes me want to read it even more :-)And since I consider myself a coffee snob....I'll have to check out how you fix yours up....lol!

I have not read any books by Bruce but this one certainly sounds interesting. I would love to read it. I just finished three books by another author who uses historical settings for her books and creates some of her fictional creates based on information gleaned about real people from that time period. A lot of the details are changed as well to fit the story. I enjoy books like that.Edward A in VA

LOL, Trixi! Great to find a kindred spirit in the coffee realm. There are some things that you just don't mess with. ;-) And I'm glad you're enjoying the behind-the-scenes glimpses. They're fun to write, but a little challenging to make sure I don't pick one that reveals too much.

('Nuther Secret: Another nuance I discovered while in Rangeley was the quirky cell phone coverage in the rural environs. I had zero connectivity at a small café where I ate lunch, but four bars a quarter mile down the road. Inside my motel room, I had one weak bar, but outside in the parking lot, I had three. So cell phone coverage becomes a subtle, but significant, factor in the story.)

I wonder if you're referring to Susan Meissner. If not, you need to read her. She's a master of the dual contemporary-historical motif. :-) As I mentioned in another post, two of my earlier books (Katia and For Maria) include the two parallel storylines. Katia is based on the Berlin Wall (I was in Berlin in 1989 when the Wall fell) and For Maria features the Kindertransport. I think you'll see some of that in the sequel to Quimby Pond too. ;-)

(Secret: A featured location in QP is "The Lodge," which is patterned after Rangeley's Loon Lodge on the shore of Rangeley Lake. Loon Lodge has a large set of stairs leading down to a dock on the lake. In summer, you can take your boat across the lake to the property and tie up to enjoy dinner at the inn's excellent restaurant. In the winter, they lay planks up the stairs where snowmobilers can come across the frozen lake, shoot right up the stairs, and park outside the back door for the same reason.)

Before my research trip for the book, I'd only been there once on a camping trip through New England m-a-n-y years ago. It's a beautiful state. You should go. ;-)

(Secret: When I went on that trip to Maine, I couldn't take my wife with me. :-( So I resolved to bring back a peace offering--some genuine Maine Tourmaline--which I took time out to shop for (I am *not* a shopper...) in Farmington, a town that figures strongly in Quimby Pond. What a great little town! Put it on your itinerary when you visit Maine.)

Thanks for stopping by and commenting, Kristen. And glad you enjoyed LLWWII. QP is a bit different, but still has that historical hook. And I think you'll recognize some of the format for Book 2, if you read Katia. ;-)

(Secret: There's a university professor in the story whose background shares some similarities with my son's--a real-life university professor. The character's personality, however, is nothing like my son's, a fact I felt necessary to assure him of before I released the book. :-) )